


Hacked

by Casey_Wolfe



Category: Fast and the Furious Series, Watch Dogs (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Hackers, Cybercrimes, Established Relationship, Fixer!Dom, Fixer!Leon, Fixer!Letty, Fixer!Vince, Friendship, Hacker!Brian, Hacker!Carter, Hacker!Jesse, Hacker!Owen, M/M, Multi, Past Character Death, Polyamory, Rare Pairings, Revenge, Romance, Threesome - M/M/M, Watch Dogs AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-08-08
Packaged: 2018-04-12 04:10:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4464968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casey_Wolfe/pseuds/Casey_Wolfe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a hacker is a dangerous game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a couple small snippets for a Watch Dogs AU, and after finishing the game and DLC I finally figured out a full plot, so here you have it.  No knowledge of the game is necessary- just know that ctOS is a city-wide surveillance system that controls basically everything.  The company that created this system is called Blume and the hacker group trying to stop them is DedSec.  Everything else is self-explanatory. Also, I'm no hacker obviously, so any terms used that aren't correct, I'm sorry. My knowledge comes from video games, movies, etc, so don't hold it against me if I completely screwed something up.

“ _You’re_ Snowman?”  Dom hadn’t been sure what to expect from the hacker he’d been communicating with for some time now, but it certainly hadn’t been this.  Snowman turned out to be a gorgeous blonde with a sunny smile and too blue eyes, looking as though he just came back from surfing some waves rather than hiding behind a computer screen.

“You can call me Brian… Dom,” he added his name with a little smirk.  “Here.”  He offered a flash drive to him.  “That should have what you’re looking for.”

“How did you get this?”  Dom wasn’t the type to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when said gift was going to help him find out who was responsible for his sister’s death.  Still he needed to know.

Brian’s smile only grew.  “I have my ways.”

“DedSec,” Dom assumed.  He had guessed that Snowman was affiliated with the hacker group trying to take on the Chicago powers that be.

“Hope it helps,” was all Brian said, though his grin was answer enough.  “See ya around StreetKing,” he added, using Dom’s hacker handle.

“Wait.”

Brian started walking across the street, a truck passing by blocking him from view.  When it was out of the way, Dom found Brian had disappeared.

Said blonde was moving through an alley to the next block, already on his cell phone.  The signal was jammed to the ctOS system so he had no worries that it was being traced or recorded.  “He’s got it,” he said when the other end picked up.

“Good.  Hurry back.”

Brian hung up, taking the steps up to the L-Train two at a time.  Carter and Owen- also known as Diablo and Octane- would be waiting.  With Dom on their side, along with his own hacker buddies, they had a fighting chance of finally shutting down Blume and ctOS for good.

Of course he wasn’t sure that others in the DedSec hierarchy saw it that way.  They had a very strict code for members.  Wild cards like Dom weren’t typically welcome in their organization.  Even hackers needed to have rules.  Especially when those hackers were set on taking down a corporation that controlled an entire city.

The ctOS surveillance system was not only a massive invasion of privacy- all the data secretly collected and stored- it was being abused by all the powers that be of Chicago.  The criminals were naturally using it as well.  Although Carter didn’t lie when he said there was a fine line between politician and criminal.

No matter what the others in DedSec thought though, Brian knew Dom could help them.  As could his team.  They weren’t the most skilled group but they had a spark.  Most of them were also what they termed Fixers- freelancers for hire that usually involved getting dirty.  They needed people like that.

For the time being he knew Dom wouldn’t be swayed from his current quest.  He had been the target of an attack, one that caused his car to crash and his little sister, who was in the passenger seat, to die.  Practically everyone in the Chicago hacking community- DedSec or not- knew that Dom was out there hunting for those responsible.

If Brian could help him finish his mission, there was a chance he would help them in turn.

* * *

“How’s the download?” Owen inquired, multitasking with two separate computers at the moment, going back and forth from one keyboard to the other.

“62%,” Carter informed.  He rolled his chair back to another desk, tapping out a couple commands into yet another system.  His phone trilled a familiar ringtone and he picked up without looking.  “Yeah?”

“He got it,” the man informed.

“Good.  Hurry back.”  He hung up his cell, always paranoid about passing sensitive information on it despite the fact they knew ctOS couldn’t track them.  “Bri’s on his way.”

“That went smoothly,” Owen replied.  He paused in his work for only a minute to swivel the chair to face Carter.  “I was expecting more trouble from the likes of Toretto.”  The man had been running around Chicago making quite the waves as of late.  Owen had hesitated to allow Brian to meet him in person.

“Sounds that way,” Carter replied absently, rolling back to the computer that was downloading a new cache of information DedSec had collected.  “Huh, why’s this stalled?”  He griped to his partner, “I told you we needed more processing power.”

Owen snapped back about him being a pretentious git when the lights went out.  “What the fuck?”  It was a localized blackout as they could see all the city lights from the windows of their abandoned warehouse.

“ _Owen_ …”  Carter meaningfully drug out the name, rising from his chair slowly.  There was the sound of sirens in the distance.

Their computers, which were on their own generator power source, flickered.  A message crossed the screens: _You may want to run._

“Bloody hell!  We’re compromised!”  Owen grabbed for his handgun, putting it in its holster.  “Finish that download!”

“No time!” Carter argued, gather his own weapons and gear.  “Wipe it!  Wipe it all!”

“We can’t!”  The massive server at this location housed a great deal of data for DedSec, most of which was stolen.

“Do it!  We don’t have time!”  The sirens were growing closer and they were currently locked out of ctOS by whatever this bastard had done.  If the data was found not only would they be in for trouble but it could compromise all of DedSec.

“Fuck,” Owen cursed under his breath, typing in the emergency command that would fry the whole system.  “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”  He cringed before hitting 'enter,' the dirty bomb virus doing its job and sweeping through the servers, corrupting and erasing all the data within.

“Come on.”  Carter thrust Owen’s messenger bag into his chest, heading for the back entrance.  He was tapping a text onto his phone: _Brandon Docks compromised._

“When I find out who did this,” Owen growled as they scaled the chain-link fence, “I’m going to kill them.”

They were already down the block and lost in the shadows by the time the cops reached the warehouse.  The pair were standing around the corner of a building, hoods pulled up as they observed the raid when Carter’s phone beeped.

_How well do you really know Snowman?_

* * *

Brian had received the ping from the DedSec alert system.  It automatically text all the members- or just senior members in some cases- if a message was sent to the drop box.   _Brandon Docks compromised._ That was where Carter and Owen had been set up, where Brian had been heading.

Instead he sent a quick text to both Carter and Owen’s phones directly, simply asking, _Status?_ He would have liked to show more concern but with everything they did they had to be careful.  Vague messages and hidden meanings were the most they could offer each other.

It was Owen that replied. It was only an address, and upon looking it up it was a bar not far from the Brandon Docks archive.  Brian didn’t bother texting back that he would be there as they had already planned to meet and they would expect him to show.

When he arrived he found them in a back booth.  The bar was smoky and dark, a good place to lay low.  Hopefully the situation wasn’t as bad as it seemed but then Brian wasn’t about to hold his breath.  “Hey,” he greeted, sliding in across from them.  “You’re both alright?  What happened?”

Rather than answer, the pair just stared at him, expressions hard.  “Care to explain?” Carter asked coldly, sliding his phone across the table.

Brian stopped it, looking down to find a picture.  It was Hobbs, the head of the Cyber Crimes Division, with his arm around Brian’s shoulders.  The blonde stiffened, willing himself to keep his breathing under control, his face carefully neutral.  It wasn’t what it looked like but it _did_ look bad.

Owen growled, slamming his hand onto the table as he leaned forward.  “Didn’t we tell you that bastard better never touch you again?”

Opening his mouth, Brian was cut off by Carter grabbing hold of his wrist.  “I warned you that I would bury him if I had to.”

Brian shook his head, not helping but to quirk his lips.  “You two take possessive to a whole new level.”

“Better believe it,” Owen snapped, glowering.  Both of them held darkness within their eyes.

“Would you too shut up and kiss me already?”

They melted pretty easily at that, both leaning across the table to accept a better greeting than what they had initially given their third lover.  “Sorry Corazon,” Carter murmured, pressing another kiss to Brian’s cheek.

“I’m not,” Owen huffed, causing Brian to roll his eyes.

“You two are impossible.”  He sobered as he settled back in the seat, looking between them.  “What the hell happened at the warehouse?”

Carter’s brows lowered.  “We have a major problem.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Well I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself.”

Dom turned and looked to the upper level where the entrance to their hidden base of operations was.  There stood none other than Brian.

Letty and Jesse jolted from their work at the computers, the former demanding, “How the hell did you get in here?!”

“The door?” was Brian’s reply.

Dom shook his head, attempting to hide a smile.  “Come on in.  Welcome to the Bunker.”

It was a forgotten thing, the original test site of the ctOS program.  It had been long since abandoned, nothing more than a legend among the hacker community.  Because of what it was, the Bunker had unlimited access to the entire ctOS system.  Better yet, no one would have any idea they were there.

“So,” Brian prompted as he made his way down the stairs, “get anything useful from the flash drive?”

“We did,” Dom answered.  “It gave us a few leads.  Thank you.”

“Good.  ‘Cause the system that information was copied from?  It got fried last night.”  He stopped in front of Dom.  “I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”  He sighed before admitting, “I came here hoping you could help find the hacker behind it.”

“Not sure what help we’ll be if the system is completely gone,” Dom offered. He gestured for Brian to join him at the table lined with a few different computers in front of the bank of monitors that took up a majority of the room.

“There was a localized blackout.  They would’ve had to be close when they triggered it.  With this thing you could pull back all the camera footage in the area and search it, right?”

“Jess?”

“Yeah man, no problem.”  The young hacker was brilliant and he’d taken to the Bunker system like a fish to water.  “I just need an address.”

Brian set a scrap piece of paper on the desk, old letterhead from a defunct factory in the Brandon Docks.

As Jesse brought up the current live feeds in the area he inquired, “So this hack you mentioned, how close would the guy need?”

“Fifty yards if he was able to jump camera to camera.”

“Alright.  Inputting.”  The search zone narrowed.  “Time?”

“About 12:48.”

Dom looked over at him.  “That was just after we met up.”

“Told ya it didn’t sound like coincidence.”

“Now that is a cool hack,” Jesse mentioned, the footage of the warehouse and the surrounding search radius pulled up onto the monitors.  It was indeed a useful hack, able to blackout power to an area for a short time.  In this case, it was only the meager power to the warehouse itself and a few nearby buildings that they were leeching off of.

“Find ‘em Jess,” Dom ordered gently, focusing the hacker on the task at hand.  As Jesse’s fingers flew over the keys, searching through data, Brian shifted anxiously.  “It’s okay Bri.”

Brian shook his head, voice a little hard as he replied, “No.  It’s not.”  He sighed, checking his tone as he explained, “That was a large archive and we lost everything.  Of course the DedSec Council believes it to be an inside job.  That makes me even more of a suspect since I was MIA at the time.”  He gave a bitter laugh before admitting, “I dunno what’s worse… the idea that one of our own’s betrayed us, or that someone out there knows a lot more than they should about what we’re doing.”

“I get it,” Dom conceded.  “I’d be worried too if I was in your position.”  He paused before apologizing, “I wish we could do more to help, but this…”  He gestured to the computers holding their own hunting information.

“I won’t ask you to get mixed up in this,” Brian assured.  “Just need a place to start.”

Silence fell between them, both men gazing at the footage streaming in fast-forward across the screens.

Letty was looking over at Brian, completely unimpressed.  “Problem?” the blonde inquired, not even looking at her.

“I don’t like strangers snooping around,” she threw back, “so yeah, I’ve got a problem.”

“I was invited in in case you missed it.”

When she started to go off in Spanish, Dom stepped in.  “Letty.  Cool it.  He’s helping us find Mia’s killer.”

There was a pause before Brian said softly, “I’m sorry about your sister.  I don’t think I ever told you that during our conversations.”  Dom met his gaze, sadness marring his features.  “It was why I pushed so hard with DedSec to get you that data.”

“Figure it wasn’t really outta sympathy.”

“No doubt you’re right.  I’m sure they’re hoping to persuade you all into helping us out in the future.  With Blume.”  It was the whole goal of DedSec after all, to shut down ctOS for good.  That meant taking down Blume HQ, the people behind the whole project.

The door of the Bunker slid open, a pair of men stepping out of the shipping container that had lowered them down to the secret entrance.  The larger brunette scowled while the lean male beside him simply looked curious.  “Hey,” Dom greeted, “what’d you find?”

They started down the stairs, the first one demanding instead, “Who’s he?”

“Brian, this is Vince and Leon, the other members of the team.”

“This is your contact?” the second one introduced as Leon asked.

“This is bullshit,” Vince spat, not afraid to step right up into Dom’s space.  He looked down his nose at Brian and then back at Dom.  “He doesn’t belong here.”

Brian scoffed, settling his weight back on one foot.  “No wonder his handle’s Loco.”

Vince looked startled but Dom only chuckled deeply and shook his head.  “No surprise you knew all of us.”

“Never underestimate the powers of DedSec.” They knew Letty was no hacker herself, but pure Fixer who had lost her lover the same day Dom had lost his sister. Dom, Vince, and Leon- also known as StreetKing, L0co, and Z3n respectively- were all novices in the hacking game, making up for it as skilled, highly sought after Fixers.  Of course they knew MadHatt3r was the seasoned hacker among them, and he was currently showing his skills.

The conversation was interrupted when the system finally hit on their hacker.  “We have a problem,” Jesse mentioned.  The camera that caught the man was brought up to encompass a few separate screens to make the image larger.

“That’s impossible.”  Brian couldn’t believe it- the man’s face was blurred, hiding his identity.  “Only DedSec has the algorithms to fuck up the ctOS Profiling System.”

It was the way they could identify anyone, anywhere in the city at any time.  It also relayed important information with just a glance.  DedSec had long ago hacked into the program, able to not only hide themselves from detection but also using it themselves right on their mobile phones.

“Hate to tell you,” Vince replied, “but looks like that ain’t the case no more.”

Dom elbowed him, earning a glare in the process, and gave Brian an apologetic look.  “It’s seeming more like an inside job.”

Growling, Brian stepped forward next to Jesse, one hand on the desk and the other on the back of his chair.  “Can you follow him?  If we can find out where he goes then at least we know where to strike.”

Jesse’s fingers were already flying across the keys.  “Yeah… yeah, I can do that.”

“Y’know,” Leon hinted, drawing Brian’s attention, “we could really put that access to good use.”

“Not happening,” the blonde shot down quickly.  “One, you’re not DedSec.  Two, I already helped you by giving you that data.”  He huffed as he looked back up at the monitor bank.  “And I got bit in the ass for it.”

The screen flashed with a red error message and Jesse let out an extended, “Ummm.”  He looked up at Brian apologetically.  “He’s gone.”

“How can he just be gone?”

“I don’t know.  He just disappeared.  He had to know where the holes in the camera monitoring was.”  Before Brian could suggest it, Jesse assured, “I extended the search parameters to try and catch him coming back out somewhere but…”

“Then he’s in whatever void he crawled into,” Brian figured.  “Send me the location.”  He pulled out his cell, unlocking it and opening up the dialer.

“Who’re you calling?” Dom asked.

“Diablo.”  He pressed the phone to his ear, the person on the other end obviously picking up.  “We have a problem.  This guy was using our code.”  A loud voice came through the speaker but none of them could make it out.  “Yeah, thanks genius.  I already know that.  I have a potential hiding ground.  Hold on, I’ll send it over.”

He pulled the phone away, finding the data had already been sent over by Jesse and forwarded on to his contact.  “Sent.”  Brian started to move towards the exit.  “Hold on a sec.”  He pulled the phone away again as he told Dom, “Thank you.  Seriously.  I won’t forget this.”

“If you need anything else…” he offered, Brian smiling in response.

“Same.”  Brian was jogging up the stairs and spoke into the phone, “I’m back…  Would you put O on?...  Because he’s easier to talk to when you get like this.”  And just like that, Brian was gone.

Dom scoffed, shaking his head.  He wasn’t quite sure what to make of Brian, but he was certainly a character.  He seemed like a good person to have in their corner as well.

“Ya done flirting with the pretty boy?” Vince gruffed.  Dom raised a brow at him.  Ignoring the look, Vince flopped down in one of the roll chairs.  “Found Fenix.”

“Not that it did us much good,” Leon added with a huff.

“Claimed he didn’t know who hired him.”  Vince shook his head.  “So I broke his kneecaps.”

“ _Vince_ ,” Dom scolded.

“Oh come on!  This is the asshole that shot out your tires!  He killed Mia and almost killed you too!”  He scowled.  “Don’t fucking tell me that I went too far.”

Dom sighed, unable to argue against the other man’s anger.  He felt it too.  “How do you expect that to get us anything?” Dom asked instead.

“I’ll work on him.  Don’t worry.”

“In the meantime…” Leon offered, pulling out a flash drive and handing it off to Jesse.  “We got this off of his computer.”  The Fixer may not have been much help but hopefully his hard drive would be.  If not, well, then they would be forced to rely on Vince’s interrogation- read, torture.

Jesse promptly plugged it in, starting to transfer and sort the data.  Leon shook his head, giving the younger hacker a fond look.  “Sometimes I swear you’re a computer yourself.”  He ruffled Jesse’s hair affectionately.  “Make sure to take a break when you’re done, hmm?”

“Yeah okay,” he replied, leaning back to rest his head on Leon’s abdomen for a short moment.

Dom walked over to Vince, dropping a kiss onto the top of his head.  “I’m glad you’re alright.”

Vince reached up, grasping Dom’s forearm as the larger man rested it across his chest.  He looked up, offering a slight smile.  “Yeah, well, I’ve got more news for you.  Blondie?  Yeah, stay away from him.”  To Dom it sounded like his boyfriend was being jealous, until he explained, “He’s a cop.”

“What?”  Letty hadn’t been sitting idle.  “What the hell do you mean?”

“Cyber Division,” Leon answered.  “Fenix told us.”

“‘Bout the only thing he told us,” Vince huffed, scowling.  The Fixer hadn’t been helpful to getting at the guys that had hired him to attack Dom, but he’d happily passed along the tidbit about Snowman once they’d mentioned his name in regards to how they’d found him.

“That legit?” Dom inquired.

“Leon checked it out on our way back,” Vince confirmed.  “Former LAPD, transferred into Chicago Cyber Crime.”  He narrowed his gaze on Dom.  “So stay the hell away from him.  In fact, now that he’s been here, we should probably burn all of this and get the hell out.”

Dom pulled away.  “Hell no.  We worked our asses off to find this place.”

“Dom, he’s probably setting us up.”

“No.”  Dom shook his head.  “So maybe he _is_ a cop.  He’s also DedSec.  They recruit from everywhere.”

They stared long and hard at each other and it ended up being Vince that broke first.  He looked away, apologizing under his breath.  Dom’s hackles lowered, stepping back into Vince’s space.  “Relax,” he encouraged, lips brushing the shell of Vince’s ear.  He knew how worried Vince was becoming for all of their safety and Dom couldn’t blame him- this was something a bit more dangerous than their average Fixer contract, mainly because they were flying blind.

“Y’know, it just hit me,” Jesse spoke up, spinning his chair around to look at the others.  “Did ya hear the name he mentioned?”

“What, Diablo?” Vince asked.  “Yeah, so what?”

It clicked for Leon then as well, leaning back to half sit on the table.  “Like _thee_ Diablo?”

“Has to be man,” Jesse answered, excitement showing.  “Who would have the balls to use that handle after what the guy did?”

“Okay,” Dom interjected, “explain.”

It was Leon that told the story, reminding them of the expansion Blume had attempted to make in L.A.  They had set up the ctOS system downtown, including the more well-off neighborhoods and the middle-class ones.  Supposedly the other areas were to be added on at a later date. It never lasted in order to find out.

The system launched and was only online for a day before the entire thing crashed and burned.  A city-wide blackout occurred, seventeen people dying in the process.  Blume was held responsible and tossed from the city, but in truth it had been caused by a single hacker with something to prove.  The man in question?  Diablo.

“He disappeared after that,” Leon concluded the tale.

“I remember reading about that,” Dom said.  “It caused a stir-up here for awhile but then it just… went away.”  That was true of most things anymore.  Something happened that had people in an uproar, then it just faded out of existence and people seemed to forget it ever happened at all.

“Then what?” Vince prompted, “He joined up with DedSec?”

“Guess so,” Jesse answered, “Or he could have already been with them.  Got sent out to L.A. when the expansion was announced and just waited.”

“So if he’s in Chicago,” Letty inquired, “why not just do a repeat?  Fry the system and be done with it.”

“That’s easy,” Leon replied.  “One, the system is more established here.  Easier to hit in its infancy when not everything has been brought up to operation.  But more importantly, Blume HQ is here.  There’s no way they’ll just pull out if something goes to hell.  They’d just reboot and go again.”

Dom nodded.  “Have to cut the head off the serpent.”

“Exactly.”

“Wait…”  Dom looked over at Vince.  “Where did you say Brian was from again?”

“L.A.”  Vince saw the line of thought he was going down and brought up the information again on his phone.  He let out a humorless laugh and looked back at Dom.  “And he left right after the blackout.”

“He followed Diablo to Chicago.”

Alarms sounded and Jesse spun back around to the computer.  “Fuck!  We’re being hacked!”

“Stop it!” Dom ordered unnecessarily.  Leon brushed past him, rolling out his portable keyboard and plugging in to the computer next to Jesse in order to help.  He was the next most competent among them with hacking.

“It’s some malware strain,” Jesse said, typing frantically.  “Leon, try back-tracing.”

“Got it.”

As the pair worked, Jesse was actually becoming frustrated.  “I can’t block him out!”

“Keep trying,” Dom encouraged.

Vince cursed, jumping onto another system.  He and Dom might have still been learning, but at least he could attempt _something_.  “It’s disabling our protection programs.”

“How did they find a way in?” Leon barked.

“What did you do Dom?” Vince accused, clearly still caught up on Brian being a spy.

“Me?” Dom growled.  “You saw exactly what was on that drive!  Same as I did!”

Ignoring the argument, Leon told Jesse, “I’m gonna try and do a ping back.  We can at least find out where this fucker is.”

“Good,” the young hacker replied.  “We’re probably gonna need it.”

“How is he fighting a back-hack _and_ fucking around in our system at the same time?” Dom asked.  he couldn’t believe anyone was that good.

“It has to be a team,” Vince gruffed, apparently thinking the same.

“I can’t contain this,” Jesse alerted them.

“Shut him down then,” Dom ordered.

Not seconds later all the screens went black.  “No!”  Jesse slammed his hands onto the desk.

White text scrolled across the monitor bank: _Now you see your data.  Now you don’t._

“Oh no.”  Dom’s words echoed through the sudden stillness of the room.

“Letty!” Jesse yelled.  “Cut the power!”

As she was running up another set of stairs, ready to kill all power to the Bunker in a last ditch effort, a new message appeared:   _Destruction courtesy of Gh0st._

The power went out, throwing the room into stark relief with only the emergency backup lights, the monitors continuing to glow mockingly.

Vince hated to pass along the news.  “That bastard just copied everything we had and wiped it from our mainframe.”

“He knew exactly how to shut us down,” Jesse added, slumped back into his chair.

“It was Brian,” Letty accused as she came back down, flashlight in hand.  “You heard him.  Same shit just happened to their own system while he’s away.  He leaves here and does the same.”

“No.”  Dom shook his head.  “No, Bri’s on our side.”

Vince wasn’t so convinced.  “We can’t trust him.”

“It wasn’t Brian,” Leon spoke up.  “I managed to get a rough location.  Guess where it is?”  He clicked a button and the screen illuminated the radius.  It overlapped with the same zone that DedSec’s mystery hacker disappeared into.

“Son of a bitch,” Dom seethed.  He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose.  “You guys stay here.  Get this place up and running again.  Jess, see if you can recover anything or get any more info.”

“Where are you going?” Vince demanded as Dom started for the stairs.

Dom threw back over his shoulder.  “Gonna find Bri.  Looks like we’re all after the same bastard now.”


	3. Chapter 3

An apartment in Parker Square was where they met.  Dom took in the setup there- a large clear whiteboard was set where a TV would normally go.  On the low coffee table there were two separate computers running.  Even though it seemed hurriedly thrown together, it worked.

There was a man sitting on the couch, shirt left unbuttoned to the middle of his chest and a cigarette hanging between his lips.  His fingers flew expertly over the keys.  “I am going to shove my hand down this asshole’s throat and rip out his intestines.”

The man jotting stuff down on the whiteboard snorted in amusement.  His jeans were practically painted on, his cotton tee lying flattering against his body.  “We have to find him first,” the man reminded with a British accent, however he certainly didn’t balk at the graphic image given.

Brian emerged from what appeared to be the kitchen, noticing Dom.  “Come on in.”

The two men looked up from their work then, seemingly noticing him for the first time.  “Awful quiet for a big guy,” the man at the board mused, “aren’t you?”

Dom shrugged a shoulder and Brian introduced the pair as Carter and Owen.  He didn’t bother asking which- if either- was the infamous Diablo.  “So,” Brian prompted, “what happened?”

After explaining the situation, Owen grunted.  “Well that’s no coincidence.”

“Question is, what’s he looking for?” Brian inquired.

“Who gives a shit?” Carter bit out around his cigarette, fingers going back to the keys.  “Going to gut him anyway.”

“Thought you were ripping out his intestines,” Owen reminded, smirking back over his shoulder.

“It’s all disembowelment isn’t it?”

“Don’t mind Carter,” Brian told Dom with a quirk of his lips.  “He wasn’t hugged enough as a child.”

“Corazon,” Carter warned, reaching back and grabbing Brian’s arm.  He tugged, pulling the blonde over the rear of the couch next to him.  Brian looked up at him, legs hooked over the back.  “You’re distracting.”

“Not sure how this current position helps in that.”

At that Carter’s grin turned sly.  “Well at least if you’re there then I know you aren’t up to anything or getting into trouble.”

“I never get into trouble,” Brian argued, however the smile on his face spoke otherwise.

Bending over, Carter pressed their lips together.  “I’ll figure something out,” the brunette murmured in promise.

Owen huffed, turning away from his board.  “Well everything I’ve come up with either doesn’t work or you’ve shot down outright.”

“You want me to waste time on a triple-bounced hack through _Canada_.”  Carter looked unamused.  Frankly as they continued flinging ideas back and forth, Dom found he was completely lost.

“Umm, can someone translate?” Dom inquired.

Brian chuckled, patting the hand Dom had rested on the back of the couch next to his leg.  “Basically this guy is good.  Damn good.”  Brian swung his legs around so he could stand up.

“So what’s the plan?”

“I use myself as bait.”

Owen scowled.  “How many times are you going to be told ‘no’ before it sinks in?”

“I gave you guys the chance to come up with a location your way.  I still don’t see one.”

“With that whole area’s connection locked down, it’s not exactly easy,” Carter huffed.

“Which makes my idea all the better.”  He turned his attention to Dom as he explained his plan.  “Ghost knows who I am.  He’s seen my face.  So, I draw him out long enough that these two can trace him.  Then we go there and kick his fucking ass.”

Dom pointed at him, looking at the others to say, “I like this plan.”

“I’ve been his target,” Brian continued, hands on his hips.  “For whatever reason he’s picked me.  So lets give him what he wants.  He won’t be able to resist.”

Carter and Owen shared a look, clearly worried about letting Brian go through with it.  Dom offered, “The Bunker might be able to help even the odds.  And the rest of us will help any way we can.”

Sighing, Owen shook his head, looking back at what he had on the whiteboard.  The truth of the matter was that they weren’t getting anywhere.  If they wanted to find this Gh0st asshole anytime soon then they needed to get more aggressive.  “We need the scramblers disabled anyway.  Let Bri do it.”  He looked back at Carter.  “If Ghost doesn’t take the bait then we still get him the old fashioned way.”

Carter’s nostrils flared, his jaw working back and forth.  He didn’t like it, that was plain to see.  “Fine,” he eventually bit out.  He cut Brian off, “But we’re doing this my way.  Owen and I will post up just outside the blackout zone.  The second those scramblers are down, we’ll breach and you get your ass back to our position.”

Brian nodded in acceptance.  “The Bunker should be able to back you up,” he suggested.  “At the least they can act as a decoy, let you two slip underneath.”

“Probably a good idea,” Dom admitted, “considering what I just saw this asshole pull off.”

Carter smirked.  “Well this Ghost hasn’t met _me_ yet.”

Brian would have rolled his eyes and called it Carter’s arrogance or vanity talking, but the fact was that Carter was one of the best hackers he knew.  He had a reputation and for good reason.  Add in Owen and himself to the mix, and it was a good chance that they would prevail.

Nudging Carter over, Brian brought up Skype and put a call out to none other than the Bunker.  Dom noticed how Carter slid out of frame, leaning against the edge of the couch.  Owen too came around to stand at an angle where he could watch the screen but not be seen.  Dom ignored their cagey behavior, leaning over the back of the couch by Brian’s shoulder when the call connected.

“Hey Dom!” Jesse greeted brightly.  “All up and running here.”  Leon appeared next to him, a hand on the back of Jesse’s chair as he leaned closer to be in frame.  Vince stood to the other side and Letty hovered behind them.

“Good timing then,” Brian replied.  “We know how to catch Ghost but we’ll need you guys… and the Bunker.”

“Challenge accepted.”  Brian smirked.

Dom explained, “Jess, gonna need you and Leon to sit tight there.  Bri’s gonna give us the opening and you two need to give this guy everything you’ve got.”

“We'll need you to play distraction,” Brian continued.  “Throw junk data at him, keep him busy.  Diablo and Octane will be slipping in underneath to punch through his firewall.”

The two traded looks before nodding.  “I’ll do what I can,” Leon answered, knowing full well he was more than outmatched in this game.

“I’ve got a present for you,” Carter offered up.  While remaining off camera he pulled one of the keyboards into his lap, sending a file to the Bunker.  “Enjoy.”

Jesse’s face lit up when he noted what they received.  Vince’s brows lowered in obvious confusion.  “What the hell am I looking at?”

“All kinds of dirty bombs,” Leon realized.  “Different programs to help overload his system.” There was a particularly interesting one that involved turning the target's screen into a Pac-Man game.

“Octane gets bored easily,” was all Carter offered, throwing Owen a wink as the Brit rolled his eyes.

“V, Lett,” Dom cut in, “gonna send you a place to meet me.  We’re gonna lie low near the blackout zone.  When we get a location, we’re gonna cover these three from the outside.”

“We ain’t goin’ in?” Vince asked gruffly, obviously not liking that he wouldn’t be getting his hands dirty.

“The place will be booby-trapped,” Owen answered with certainty, still remaining hidden.  “It’ll take a different skill set to get to this _Ghost_.”

“We’re gonna do what we do best V,” Dom assured with a crooked grin.  “Bring the toys.”  Vince grinned right back, nodding his head.  They were Fixers first and foremost.  They were better served clearing the area and covering the trio of hackers with rifles.  Besides, if things went south then they would be right there to lend a hand.

“Bring it on,” Jesse answered, reaching for his drink.

Leon snatched the can from his hand, shaking his head.  “I’ll try to keep him from the Red Bull.”

“I work better with Red Bull.”  Jesse accented his argument with a pout.

“No, you just bounce off the walls.”

“And I work well like that.”

As they went back and forth, Vince shook his head and smiled at Dom.  “We’ll see you soon Dom,” he promised his boyfriend before hitting the ‘end call’ button.

“I hope you know what you’re doing Bri,” was all Carter could say after watching all that.

* * *

The doors locked behind them and the guys cursed.  They had a good idea that Gh0st would know they were coming.  They weren’t completely helpless but having their escape cut off wasn’t comforting.  Laughter came through speakers in the ceiling.  “Welcome to my playground,” an altered voice said, lights coming on at full blast.  “Now which one of you is Diablo?”

“Fuck off!” Brian snapped, shielding his eyes from the blinding light.

“Tsk,” Gh0st replied.  “If you just give up Diablo then the other two can go.”

“Fuck you!” Owen snapped.  “Get your ass out here and we’ll bury you!”

The lights dimmed immediately to a tolerable level, the boys taking in their surroundings.  The small warehouse was barren save for the booth in the back, however they were rather certain an array of booby-traps were laid for them. They all readied for a fight.

The voice that came through the speakers was no longer filtered. “Owen?”

Said man stepped forward, disbelief on his face.  “Deck?”

The door to the back room flew open, a man coming out that none of them expected.  Owen rushed to meet him halfway in a violent embrace.  “I can’t believe it,” Deckard spoke into his little brother’s neck.  “You were dead.”

Of course Deckard would believe that.  As far as anyone was concerned, Owen was one of the victims that died during the Los Angeles Blackout.  Except that was only a cover, a way for Owen to disappear.  In reality he and Brian had followed Carter back to Chicago.

There was no way Owen was able to pass the word to his brother considering the man resided in a Federal prison at the time.  The best he could manage was to get a hold of him after his release.  However that proved easier said than done as no sooner had his sentence expired than Deckard completely fell from the radar.

Clearly the man had changed his handle, just as Owen had done.  No matter how many feelers any of them put out, no one could find any trace of Deckard.  Owen had attempted to leave clues of his continued existence out there in the ether but clearly his brother had never found them.

“I had Federal tails,” Owen explained.  “It got too hot.  Carter offered me a way out.”

Deckard’s gaze turned on Carter since he knew who Brian was.  “Diablo,” he gruffed.  Carter stuck his chin out in challenge.  “Thought you killed my baby brother.”  Owen shoved him gently for the 'baby' comment.

“So you decided on a mission of vengeance,” Carter noted.  “Except that _mission_ just put both my lovers in danger and compromised our entire push back against Blume.”  He stepped forward, completely unafraid.

Deckard’s brows lowered.  “Lovers.”  It wasn’t a question but he looked at his brother all the same.

“We’re together,” Owen answered simply with a little raise of his shoulder.  “Brian, Carter, and me.”

Neither Brian or Carter knew exactly what Deckard’s reaction would be to that bit of news.  However after a long minute the man cracked a lewd grin.  “One wasn’t enough ‘Wen?  Really?”

Owen rolled his eyes at the childhood nickname, giving it right back to him.  “Whatever Deck.  Don’t be jealous.”

“Nice subject change,” Carter huffed, arms crossed and still glaring.

“Can’t change it now,” Brian pointed out.  “Under the circumstances we would have done the same.”  Carter looked away, knowing he was right though not particularly caring.  Brian proceed to call Dom, “Yeah, it’s clear in here.  Come on in.”

None of them were surprised when Dom came in alone, no doubt wanting Vince and Letty at the ready just in case it wasn’t as safe as Brian said.  “Who’s this?” he demanded.

“Owen’s brother.”

“This is the asshole that fucked with the Bunker?”

“It’s a good thing I did,” Deckard answered for himself.  “Appears you lot have quite the problem.  Just so happens I know who you’re hunting for.”

Dom’s stance changed, no longer tense.  “How do you-?”

“The Fixer you found?  Fenix?  He works for Braga.”

“Braga?”  Dom had no idea who he was talking about.  Apparently the other hackers did as they all looked at each other.

“He’s bad news,” Carter explained.

“Putting it mildly,” Brian huffed.  “Guy’s a drug lord, gun smuggler, human trafficker, you name it and he’s probably got his fingers in it.”

“What the hell’s a guy like that doing after me?” Dom demanded.

Deckard was the one with the answer.  “Turn anyone down for a job?”

Dom paled.  It had been months before the attack and so he hadn’t made the connection.  “There was an anonymous contact.  He wanted the team for a job but it sounded too shady.  He refused to give me more details and so I passed.  He tried again, offered more money, including an advance, but I wouldn’t risk it.  It wasn’t like we needed the job.”

“Sounds like Braga’s usual MO.  He probably took offense and sent his goons after you.”

“So where do we find Braga?” Owen asked.  It wasn’t as though DedSec went looking for the underground scum of Chicago.  They were far too focused on dealing with the scum in the public eye.

“He’ll be holding an auction soon,” Deckard informed.  “And he always shows in person.”

Dom was determined to end things.  “We’ll hit him there then.”

“Tricky.”  Deckard smirked at him.  “But doable.”

“Lets not waste any time then.”

* * *

Braga’s auction of sex slaves may have been heavily guarded but it was no match for a group of skilled hackers and Fixers working together.  That and Vince made good on his promise to get Fenix talking.  They had infiltrated the secured warehouse and cornered Braga.  It was nothing for them to stand aside and allow Dom to deliver the fatal shot.

“Won’t bring her back,” Dom spoke, looking off at the bright skyline of Chicago from their penthouse perch. They were all at Deckard's current residence, celebrating their success. “But I feel better.”

Vince’s arm went around his waist, snuggling against his side.  “I’m glad.”  He pressed a kiss to the top of Dom’s shoulder.  “I love you Dom.”

Dom let a little breath out through his nose, lips quirking up.  He dropped a kiss to the top of Vince’s head when he laid it on his shoulder.  “Love you too V.”  His hand rubbed Vince’s upper arm.  “Thank you for sticking by me through all this.  Promise it’ll be over soon.”

“We’re gonna help those DedSec losers take out Blume, aren’t we?”

Dom shook his head at his lover’s assessment of them.  “I think we owe them one.  Besides… a little chaos never hurt anyone.”

Vince barked out a laugh.  He had no idea what to say, instead turning his head to nuzzle into Dom’s neck.  That was for another time- that night was just for them.

As the door to the balcony slid open, the music came pouring out.  “Hey,” Leon called, “you two comin’?”

Alright, so perhaps they would have to share the night with the team- and their new extended family.  Not that either of them could turn down the good company.

* * *

“Well,” Brian announced as they got off of the lift into the Silo, “that was fun.”

“Depends on your definition of fun Corazon,” Carter replied, but there was a smile on his face all the same. It had been almost dawn by the time they managed to get out of Deckard's. The elder Shaw had wanted them to stay but there was work they needed to do.

They had the Silo to themselves, an abandoned facility they had created into their personal safe house.  It wasn’t as pretty as the Bunker but it was just as technically sound.  It made for the perfect place to be for them to have time to themselves, to unwind and prepare for what was to come.

“Got news for you,” Owen mentioned, dropping his messenger bag onto the couch.  “That’s gonna be nothing compared to taking out Blume.”

“We’ve got that in the bag Carino.”  Carter tugged at his lover’s belt to bring him closer.  “Between the three of us, your brother, that rag-tag group at the Bunker, _and_ the rest of DedSec?  We can’t fail.”

“We can’t afford to,” Brian pointed out.

“Would you both relax and have a little faith in the devil?”  That got them both to laugh, Carter smirking in triumph.

That didn't mean that work had to start right away. “Take me to bed already,” Brian griped, making his way towards the bedroom.  Carter and Owen weren’t far behind.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this last chapter edited. I know I'm usually pretty quick on these things but some stuff came up and have been super busy. Hopefully worth the wait.

It was a two-pronged attack.  While one team took down ctOS, another would be at Blume HQ frying their systems.  Because of their unique abilities, Dom’s crew was chosen for the latter.  He, Vince, and Letty would be able to break into the high secured facility and tap Jesse and Leon directly into the system.  It didn’t hurt that Carter had shared his created viruses and other assortment of goodies to help get the job done.

Meanwhile, said trio and Deckard would be handling ctOS.  Blume couldn’t hope to stop both attacks at once.  Add in some backup distractions from other DedSec agents going on throughout the city and Blume didn’t stand a chance.

Dom slipped through the breach in the fence line, Vince on his heels.  “How we lookin’ Lett?” he inquired into the earpiece.

She had the pair in her rifle scope from the hill behind Blume’s offices acting as overwatch. “Three guards in the courtyard.”

“Copy.”  He looked over his shoulder at Vince who was already pulling out his smartphone.

“Remind me to thank blondie for the upgrades,” he mentioned.  With one tap, he was hacked into the security camera near them, able to control it to view the area as well as pick out any vulnerabilities they could exploit.  “Well lookie here,” Vince mused.  “It looks like they're about to have an overload to the computer there.  Oh no.”

Dom chuckled, shaking his head.  His boyfriend had always been a devious bastard.  Having the ability to use the same hacks that the likes of Carter and Owen could do off the top of their head without needing to do more than push a button was going to go to the man’s head.  Vince cackled as the monitor sparked and exploded, drawing the guards’ attention.

Ducking his head around the corner, Dom could see them rushing into the small server room which was currently cleared of employees being that it was night.  One grabbed a fire extinguisher while the others looked around frantically, clearly having no idea what had caused it or what to do about it.  “Annnd, take a break,” Vince said the same time the metal fire doors locked into place in front of the door and windows.

That time Dom barked a laugh.  “That’s pretty good V.”

“I know.”

Letty’s voice cracked in their ears. “You’ve got a couple more guards coming to help but that leaves the back corridor around clear.”

Dom jerked his head to the side, Vince following close behind as they moved through an office space to the back side of the building.  As promised the guards were nowhere to be found, allowing them to slip through a back door.  “You’re on your own now,” Letty reported.  “I’ll keep you updated on this lot.”

“Thanks Lett,” Vince whispered.  He tapped into a security camera in the next room.  “Now just to follow the cameras…”  He jumped from camera to camera, only coming across a couple guards in the process, until he got to the main security room.  There was a single guard sitting and monitoring the feeds, talking to the men downstairs as they worked to unfuck the situation.

The moment the guard turned his back, Vince inserted the code he’d been given which changed all the cameras inside over to prerecorded images so they wouldn’t be spotted.  “All set.  Down this hall, second door on the right down into the main server room.”

Silenced pistol at the ready, Dom led the way.  He paused as he heard the roaming guard, pulling his stun gun and waiting.  Sure enough the man passed through the doorway, receiving 30,000 volts of electricity into the side of his neck.  Vince drug the man over to sit in the corner as to be somewhat out of the way while Dom got the server room door open.  “We’re good,” he assured, allowed Vince to pass inside.

“Alright,” Vince spoke, jacking in his phone to the first unit he came to, “time to work your magic Jess.”

“I’m on it.”  After a moment, Jesse let out an impressed sound.  “Dude, this system is _amazing_.”

“How much time?” Dom inquired, pulling out his own phone to take over watch of the area.

“Gonna need at least five minutes,” Jesse answered.  “Leon.  Get me that Red Bull.”

“Not ‘til yer done,” they heard the muffled rebuke through the line.  “I’ll take this.  You start on the back ups and we can have it done in two.”

“Deal.”

Dom shook his head, lips turned upward as he looked up at Vince to find the same expression of amusement on his face.  “Those two…”  Dom didn’t even bother to finish, instead he turned his attention to the other team.  “Snowman…  You’ll be green in sixty seconds.”

“Copy that.  We’re moving out.”

Vince was the one to say what they were both thinking, “Now lets just hope they can pull this off.”

* * *

Four motorcycles flew down the street, weaving in and out of traffic.  Carter was the first to break off, then Deckard in another direction.  Owen held out his fist in offer, Brian butting his own up against it before they parted company.  Each would hack a different ctOS substation, shutting them down so they could access the mainframe via Central ctOS downtown.

The virus Carter used in LA was altered slightly in order to overcome the changes Blume had made in response to that attack.  No amount of safeguards would be able to stop it.  It replicated far too quickly and was self-adapting.  It was using their own coding against them, something Carter was infinitely good at.

“I love this job,” Brian quipped, installing the virus into the tower he was assigned, two guards knocked out cold and tied up to a pole.  His phone beeped and he swiped the screen to connect the call.  “And how’s everything with you hun?” he asked conversationally.

“I’m done here,” Carter reported, “and I’m showing zero activity from the mainframe.  We haven’t been detected yet.”

“Good.”  He smacked the enter key harder than necessary.  “Done.”

“See the shut down now,” Carter confirmed.  “Owen’s just gotten his.”

As Brian was walking out of the small substation said man was calling in and he conferenced them.  “Are you two on your way yet?” Owen groused.

“Says the man who just got his station offline,” Brian retorted.  He threw his leg over his bike, revving the engine.  “Hundred bucks says I beat you there.”

“Not a race children,” Carter scolded gently but there was amusement in his voice.

“Always a race sweetheart,” Owen replied.

“Why isn’t Deckard in place yet?” Carter griped, clearly still looking at his phone rather than driving to their rendezvous.

“Damnit,” Owen cursed, “I’m closest to him.  I’ll go-”

“Never mind.  He’s up.  Let's move.”

“Was moving five minutes ago,” was Brian’s cheeky retorted.

* * *

They were sitting in the Charger, rebuilt after the accident that took Mia from them. In her own car, Letty was taking a different route back towards the city.  They had stopped however on the route down from Pawnee, pulling off into a scenic overlook across the water into the heart of Chicago.  When the lights went out, they would have the perfect view.

“Think this’ll work?” Vince inquired.

A hand snaked into his and he looked over to find Dom smiling softly.  “Think if anyone can do it, it’s that crazy group.”

Vince let out a huff of laughter.  “No doubt.”

They had done their part.  Blume’s systems were toast and there was no recovering them.  If ctOS crashed now that meant there was no help coming from HQ to reboot it.  That meant no more ctOS, no more data they collected both legally and illegally, and no more city-wide surveillance and invasion of privacy.

Dom figured Mia would be proud of what they had done.  She always said ctOS was a bad idea from the start, that it would lead to the downfall of the city.  Perhaps once this was all over he would have to visit her grave.  He hadn’t been able to do that since they buried her, hadn’t been able to face her.  Now with her murder avenged, he felt as though he could talk to her once again.

“Well,” Dom mused, opening the door, “the show should start any minute now.”

Vince followed his lead, getting out of the car to sit next to Dom on the hood.  “Bet it’ll be beautiful.”  He snuggled into his boyfriend, head lying to the side on his shoulder.  Dom wrapped an arm around his waist, pressing a kiss to his temple.

When the lights started to go out in a wave over the city, he held his lover tighter and waited for the darkness with a smile.

* * *

“What the hell happened to you?” Owen demanded as Deckard pulled up right after he and Brian arrived- at the same time no less.

“Just a few more guards than we originally thought,” he brushed off.  “Nothing to worry about.”

Carter pulled up then, taking his helmet off once he’d kicked the stand down.  “We have confirmation Blume’s down?”

Brian smirked.  “Tagged and bagged.” He had received the text from Dom as they were clearing out.

Carter’s smile was that feral one that drove both his lover’s absolutely crazy with want, and worried everyone else.  “Then lets not waste any time.”

Walking into the central hub of ctOS was surprisingly easy.  Granted a lot of that had to do with the fact everyone was scrambling to figure out what was going on with the various DedSec distractions.  They hadn’t even noticed the fatal virus breach they’d planted.

As they walked down the deserted hallway to the terminal they were going to access, the televisions on the wall switched to a DedSec announcement.  “Diablo,” the masked man on the screen spoke, drawing their attention.  “We need thirty seconds.”

“For what?” Owen demanded.

“Thirty seconds for us to drop our code into the system after you open it.”

The trio of DedSec hackers had no idea which member of the Council they were dealing with.  They all wore masks and distorted their voices, not just for their infamous messages to the public but with other members as well.  Within their circle they were all just referred to as “the Dave’s.”  Whoever it was though, there hadn’t been anything mentioned to them about any code.

“When the system reboots,” the Council member explained, “DedSec will control the machine inside.  We’ll correct what Blume has broken.”  
  
“You can’t be serious,” Brian said, not believing what he was hearing.

“We will be the watchdogs of the city.”

“No,” Carter answered, scowling at the screens.  “This city doesn’t need anyone else watching over it.  This system needs to die.  Permanently.”

“Diablo!” the hacker warned.

“Bye Dave.”  One click of Carter’s phone scrambled the feed.  Nothing was stopping him now.

“You sure about this?” Brian checked as Carter hacked through the firewall- heavily damaged thanks to his mutating virus.

“Would you rather DedSec control this?   _No one_ should have that power.  Not even us.”

“I think Bri meant the blackout,” Owen answered at Carter’s other side.  It was a valid question since the last time Carter had blacked out a city, innocent people had died.

“It’s the only way to force the total system reboot,” Carter reminded as his fingers flew across the keys.  Of course once ctOS attempted to come back online, the virus would implode the entire system.  Without Blume’s backups, the company would have to start from scratch to recreate what they had made.

Before Carter could press the last command, Brian took his hand gently.  “We’re not letting you take the burden alone this time,” he spoke softly.  If anyone was hurt because of what they were about to do, then they would share that responsibility.  Carter needn’t shoulder it all on his own.

Owen’s hand joined theirs, offering a slight smile.  “Lets do this,” he encouraged.  Carter couldn’t help but grin in return, pushing back the emotions threatening to choke him up and instead focused the vindictive thoughts on ending Blume’s rein over the city.

As one they pressed 'enter,' holding their breaths for what seemed like eternity.

Then everything went dark.

The lights went out, rolling through the city and creating total darkness.  Unlike LA it wasn’t meant to last.  Thanks to a ctOS update the reboot happened within five minutes of the chain ending.  However with all the power coming back, the system soon died in a completely different way.

The four of them walked out of Central ctOS and took in their surroundings.  Practically everything had been integrated into the system in some way- traffic lights, ATM’s, police blockades, home security systems- the same things that they had been able to manipulate thanks to their infiltration.  It would be weeks, maybe even months, before things were fixed, put back to the way they were.  Even so, all they could do was feel relief.

They had won.  They had taken down Blume and their pet project.  They had taken back the city.

“You did it!” Brian gushed, throwing his arms around Carter and kissing him soundly.

“ _We_ did it Corazon,” Carter replied, grabbing hold of Owen to pull him in as well.  “ _We_ did it.”

“Guess we’re going back to hacking the old fashioned way,” Owen lamented.  Certainly a fully connected system had made the whole process for hackers all the more easy.

“Gone soft on me kiddo?” Deckard teased.

“Never old man.”  Brian barked out a laugh as the brothers started to trade jabs back and forth, Carter snickering as well.

The buzz of his phone drew Carter’s attention.  It was a blocked number.  He lowered his brows, telling the others to quiet down before he connected the call, putting it onto speaker. “We warned you,” the filtered voice spoke through the phone.  “You are all done.  You and those pathetic newbs you brought on.  We had the perfect opportunity to fix Chicago and you _destroyed it._ ”

“We just freed everyone,” he corrected.

“We could have done that without the chaos!”

“No, you wanted _control_ …  Somewhere along the line you forgot what DedSec stood for.  You strayed from that path, not me.”

“We don’t forget.  And we don’t forgive.”

“Neither do I,” Carter answered darkly.

Ending the call, Carter looked up at his lovers.  Brian was frowning as he said, “Guess this means we all need to leave the city and lay low for awhile.”

“Like bloody hell we are,” Owen threw back sternly.  He looked at Carter next as he declared, “We aren’t goin’ anywhere.”

Carter’s lips quirked, face softening and he agreed, “No Carino.  We’re not.”

“Good,” Deckard grunted.  “I was just starting to settle in.”  His arm went around his brother’s shoulders, shaking him a little.

“Still,” Brian pointed out, “we should warn the others.  They might not be so eager to chance it.”

Owen smirked.  “Oh, I think they are.”

Carter chuckled.  “I have the feeling Loco is game for about anything.  And it would be nice to keep the MadHatter around.  Kid has potential.”  He took out a cigarette, lighting up.  After letting out a puff of smoke he told Brian, “Relax.  You know as well as I do that DedSec could never take us down.”

“Guess you’re right,” Brian conceded.  “All the same, lets get back to the Silo.”

Dom’s team was supposed to meet them there anyway once they took care of the Bunker.  With everything else of ctOS completely destroyed, there didn’t need to be the option afforded to them.  No, once they had gotten the confirmation of the shutdown, Jesse and Leon would have already started wiping the system out by the time the others got there to set the explosives.  Nothing would be left of that ctOS test site when they were done.

As they walked down the sidewalk, abandoning the motorcycles, they couldn’t help but smile- even Brian who was rightfully concerned for their safety.  The lights of the city were going crazy, horns honking, and people shouting.  However in the midst of the chaos, there was freedom.

/End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://thedenofcaseywolfe.tumblr.com/).


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